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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24592081">A Token of Hope</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jellybean96/pseuds/Jellybean96'>Jellybean96</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Prodigal Son (TV 2019)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Friendship, Hurt/Comfort, Post-Finale, Pre-Relationship, hand holding</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-06-07</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-06-07</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 06:40:58</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,235</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24592081</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jellybean96/pseuds/Jellybean96</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Malcolm's trying to deal with the aftermath of Ainsley's actions. Dani's there to lend an ear and a hand.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Malcolm Bright/Dani Powell</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>55</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>A Token of Hope</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Hey babes! Back again with a new Brightwell fic for ya! This one's based around the events of the season finale. Took me a while to find a good title, but I think I like what I found. It's taken from a quote I found about hand-holding.</p><p>Enjoy!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Everything is wrong. Everything is absolutely wrong. Nothing is okay. This is not how it should be. This is <em>not </em>how it should be. It should not have happened this way, this was not the plan. This was <em>not </em>the plan.</p><p>His sister, his sweet, motivated, driven, accomplished baby sister should not be the one who got arrested for straight-up murder. She was supposed to be safe from all of this. She was supposed to have been the one who was safe from their father's influence.</p><p>She should have been safe. She should have been safe.</p><p>He tried to protect her after the fact, was completely prepared to take the blame for what happened to protect her and keep her safe from the fallout. But she was pretty out of it after the whole ordeal happened, wasn't listening to him when he tried to tell her to clean herself up so they could figure out what to do. She just continued to stand there with Nicholas' blood on her skin and her clothing, starting to stain.</p><p>Just the thought of it makes him sick to his stomach. How could his baby sister have done something like that? How?</p><p>It's been hours now since that whole mess happened, and everything is still so wrong.</p><p>Gil is still in recovery, no word yet on if he's going to recover. Martin is being transferred back to Clairmont, though now that Nicholas is gone he's unsure if his father will still have all the same privileges as before. His mother is frazzled beyond belief while calling every lawyer that she can to see what can be done about Ainsley's predicament. His baby sister is sitting in police custody for murder, still not quite understanding that she's the one who pulled the proverbial trigger.</p><p>And Malcolm has no idea what to do about any of it. No idea whatsoever. He's at a complete loss. And he's close to losing his mind about it. He needs to do something. He just needs to be able to fix this.</p><p>"Do I dare ask what's going on in your head?"</p><p>He looks up from the floor, finding Dani slowly approaching him, her hands tucked into the front pockets of her leather jacket and a small hint of a friendly smile on her lips.</p><p>He scoffs lightly. "I don't even want to know what's going on in my head right now."</p><p>"Can I sit?" she asks, gesturing to the chair next to him.</p><p>He just nods silently.</p><p>"How's your sister?" she asks him, sitting down in the chair and shifting a little to get comfortable.</p><p>He sighs heavily, leaning back and running a hand through his hair. "I don't know. I haven't spoken to her since she was brought in. I haven't been able to bring myself to do it. I just...I don't know why...how…why I couldn't protect her better from everything."</p><p>"Hey, this is not your fault, Malcolm."</p><p>"Then how come a part of me feels like it is?" he questions, not really looking for an answer. He just needs to vent. One of the rare instances in his life where he actually wants to talk about everything that's going on inside his head. Though, he thinks that's largely in part to the beautiful, curly-haired detective sitting next to him.</p><p>So he pours his heart out to her. He tells her every single thing that's been on his mind since he watched his baby sister slit a man's throat without a second thought. He tells her how the whole moment is still playing on repeat in his mind, no matter how desperately he tries to get it to stop. He tells her how he just wants all the pain and bad things to stop happening. He tells her how he just wants to be free from all of his father's horrible deeds. He tells her how he just wants to protect his mom and sister from everything. He tells her that he wishes he could have done more, that he could have protected them better.</p><p>And at the end of it all, after he's spilled his demons to her, she's still there. She's still sitting next to him, watching him as she takes in everything that he said. He can see her processing everything he told her.</p><p>"I just want it to be done," he tells her quietly, his voice nearly hoarse. He swallows thickly. "I don't know how much more of this I can take."</p><p>She's quiet for a little while longer and he shifts his gaze down to the floor again. He hardens his jaw when he realizes that his never-better shaky hand is shaking. And that it's most likely been shaking the entire time he was talking but he didn't even realize. He curses internally.</p><p>He pauses when a familiar smoothness envelopes his shaking hand and he looks up just enough to see Dani's slender fingers wrapped around his own. He acts on impulse, turning his hand over in hers and squeezing her fingers just a hair.</p><p>He looks up further to see her giving him a soft, comforting smile. He returns it easily.</p><p>He sits up and leans back in his chair again, his hand remaining in Dani's. "I'm sorry."</p><p>She shakes her head, giving his hand a small squeeze. "Don't be. I meant what I said. This isn't your fault. You couldn't have known what was going to happen, you couldn't have predicted what your sister was going to do."</p><p>He keeps his eyes pointedly looking away from her, but he can still see her out of his periphery. He can't bear to look at her right now.</p><p>But apparently, she's not having that.</p><p>The next thing he knows, his head is being turned and he realizes that Dani had grabbed his chin to turn his head so he'll look at her.</p><p>"Are you listening to me?" she asks and he slowly nods. "Good. This is not your fault. Okay? You cannot take on the weight of all of this on your own. It's not right and it's not healthy." She releases his chin. "I know you care about your sister, but you can't do this to yourself. I'm glad you talked to me, though."</p><p>"I like talking to you," he tells her honestly. Because it's the truth. The absolute truth. "I can unload all of my problems and you don't even bat an eye."</p><p>She shrugs. "I've got demons too. Maybe someday I'll unload all my problems on you for a change," she says and he thinks she's trying to be playful, to tease him a little.</p><p>But he just smiles as sincerely as he can. "I'd like that. I'd like that very much. Maybe one day you'll trust me as much as I trust you to share all of that with me."</p><p>She nods, giving his hand a small squeeze. "Yeah, maybe."</p><p>They sit in silence for quite a while after that, the ambient noises of the space around them being the only thing they hear. Their hands remain entwined and he's thankful that she hasn't tried to pull away, that she hasn't tried to leave him alone again. He needs this. He wants this. He hopes that a part of her wants it too, that she's not just doing it for his benefit entirely. That she wants it too. Whatever <em>it</em> is.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>So? What did you think? Let me know in a review down below. I'd love to hear your thoughts.</p><p>Until next time,<br/>Jellybean96 out!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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